It all began with one lone
Linux-based file server. Linux was the choice and MP3.com was the company. Linux
is a common choice for servers nowadays but not when I chose it at
MP3.com 4 years ago.

I made the Linux choice
based on the fact that I had little money to spare. It was purely a decision
based on cost – I soon learned that I had employed the most stable technology
available. Many had dismissed the effectiveness of Linux because of its low-cost,
thinking that if it cost less it must be substandard. With Linux on servers, and
now with Linux on the desktop, that assumption couldn't be further from the
truth. High quality can be had without breaking the bank and strong-arming
customers into inflexible deals, such as Microsoft's licensing deadline, which
is coming up on July 31, 2002.

The emergence of Linux as
a competitor to Microsoft Windows has forced Microsoft to change the way it approaches
customers, however, according to Gartner Research, Microsoft customers still
face an increase in fees ranging from 33 to 107 percent. Microsoft's
captive agreements guarantee their revenue streams. The software giant is afraid
(and with good reason) of the affordable options now available in the software
market, hence the urgency in signing customers into restrictive agreements with
looming deadlines. See the article on
ZDNet.

For the first time,
computer professionals now have a choice for company systems. Those in charge of
their companies’ technology decisions owe it to their corporations’ bottom line
to keep an eye on LindowsOS. See our Insiders program for more
information.

On the desktop, Microsoft
has positioned itself to be significantly easier to learn, install and use in
comparison to some Linux-distributions. Until now, creators of Linux-products
may not have been able to move as quickly to smooth out some of the rough
edges. LindowsOS has been specifically designed to be easy to install and use.

Users need to look at the
overall total cost (see above diagram.) On one end of the spectrum you have
Microsoft's “cost-an-arm-and-a- leg-ware.” Then comes Linux "freeware," but, as
long as Linux requires experts with extra time and in-depth knowledge to
configure code, Microsoft has little to worry about.

LindowsOS, however,
is based on the "fairware" principal which will dramatically reduce the overall
total cost. The diagram above illustrates users can
buy and maintain a LindowsOS
system for one-third of the cost of an Microsoft-based system. A
fair-priced model is a threat to Microsoft more so that an absolutely free one.

LindowsOS not only offers
a stable easy-to-use operating system, we hide the technological details of
Linux under an easy-to-use interface, that means anyone can download one of the
more than 1,300 programs in the
Click-N-Run Warehouse. Anyone can run
LindowsOS. It's point-and-click easy. People new to computers can use it,
kids can use it. People who have shied away from computers will be
able to use LindowsOS – the ease is there and the price is right.

And remember the one lone
Linux-based server that powered the MP3.com in the early days that I mentioned?
That server is now accompanied by hundreds of its friends -- all
running Linux while saving MP3.com millions of dollars. The phenomenon of
the one lone server multiplying again and again is the same phenomenon that will
take place on the desktop. I know it, Microsoft knows it, Linux
enthusiasts know it, and Lindows.com
Insiders know it as well.